On "Virtue-Signalling"

     I've been in a number of arguments in the last year or so where my opponent has thrown out "virtue-signalling" as a way to discredit my position, which I found rather baffling at first. I always understood virtue signalling to refer to conspicuous behaviours meant to signal virtue, without necessarily being virtuous themselves. For example, you don't have to actually be virtuous to wear a T-shirt that says "I'm virtuous!" but it still might trick other people into thinking you are and treating you accordingly. Actually advocating virtuous positions, though, didn't seem to me to be the sort of thing you'd criticize someone for.
     But I understand now that it's a fairly common ploy among the alt-right and others to try to undermine the arguments of anyone who might say something, well, virtuous. The intent is to suggest that the person saying "Don't torture puppies" is just a hypocrite who doesn't actually care about puppies and really just wants to impress people with how kind they are to puppies, while deep down you know they're probably torturing lots of puppies in secret.

     It's a stupid argument, if you think about it, but it's not really meant to be thought about. It's successful when it baits you into bickering about how really truly sincerely you mean it, instead of focusing on establishing the point you set out to make in the first place. And there's no way to win that fight.
     Nonetheless, it is a stupid argument, because if you don't take the bait it pretty much surrenders the whole debate. I mean, if you're arguing X and I'm arguing Y and I say you're just saying X to impress everyone with how virtuous you are, haven't I just conceded that X is the sort of thing a virtuous person would be expected to say? And if that's the case, who cares if you're actually virtuous or not? The issue is not how virtuous you are, but whether X or Y is correct.
     It gets even dumber. Remember that the point of accusing someone of virtue-signalling is to imply that they're a hypocrite, and don't really believe what they're saying. But if I concede that X at least appears to be correct while I am arguing for Y, I have effectively confessed my own hypocrisy; why on earth am I arguing for Y if I recognize that X is the more virtuous answer?

     When someone accuses you of "virtue signalling" in an argument, they're not saying you're wrong. They're mocking you for being right.